Kamasi Washington’s new EP Harmony of Difference, the first new music from Washington since his universally acclaimed 2015 debut album The Epic, will be released on September 29 th via Young Turks. Furthermore, Washington has confirmed a very special run of North American headline shows this fall in partnership with AEG Presents. The dates kick off November 7th in Milwaukee, with further shows in Chicago, New York, D.C., Toronto and many more.

Harmony of Difference originally premiered as part of the Whitney Museum of American Art 2017 Biennial alongside a film by A.G. Rojas and also featuring artwork by Kamasi Washington’s sister, Amani Washington. The new music is an original six-part suite that explores the philosophical possibilities of the musical technique known as “counterpoint,” which Washington defines as “the art of balancing similarity and difference to create harmony between separate melodies.” Beyond the artistic impulse to expand the possibilities within counterpoint, Washington wanted to create something that opened people’s minds to the gift of diversity. Each of the first five movements is its own unique composition. “Truth,” the sixth movement, fuses all five compositions into one simultaneous performance.  Echoing this fusion, Amani created five paintings focused on raw shapes and colours, each inspired by one of the first five movements of the suite. Amani then combined these paintings to create a sixth: an abstract depiction of a human face. The film, directed by A.G. Rojas, brings the metaphoric ideas found in both the music and paintings to life. While still quite abstract, it focuses on the harmony found in people from South Central and East Los Angeles and shows the beauty in their differences. Harmony Of Difference will be available on all digital services, as well as on 12” vinyl with a 14-page concertina booklet featuring original artwork by Amani Washington and still images from the film by A.G. Rojas. “My hope is that witnessing the beautiful harmony created by merging different musical melodies will helppeople realize the beauty in our own differences.”—Kamasi Washington

Kamasi Washington
HARMONY OF DIFFERENCE
TRACK LIST

1. Desire
2. Humility
3. Knowledge
4. Perspective
5. Integrity
6. Truth

KAMASI WASHINGTON LIVE

November 1 Zurich, Switzerland Jazznojazz Festival
November 2 Torino, Italy Club To Club
November 3 Paris, France Pitchfork Festival
November 4 Eindhoven, Netherlands So What’s Next
November 7 Milwaukee, WI Turner Hall Ballroom*
November 8 Madison, WI Majestic
November 9 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
November 10 Chicago, IL The Riviera
November 11 Cleveland, OH Agora Ballroom
November 14 Urbana, IL Canopy Club
November 15 Detroit, MI Majestic Theatre
November 16 Toronto, ON Danforth
November 17 Burlington, VT Higher Ground*
November 18 Northhampton, MA Calvin Theatre
November 20 Boston, MA The Royale
November 22 New York, NY Terminal 5*
November 24 Washington, D.C. MGM National Harbor
November 25 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer
November 27 Pittsburgh, PA Mr. Smalls
November 28 Cincinnati, OH The Taft
November 30 Charlottesville, VA Jefferson Theater
December 1 Richmond, VA The National
December 2 Raleigh, NC Duke Energy PAC
December 3 Asheville, NC The Orange Peel
December 5 Birmingham, AL The Saturn
December 6 Athens, GA Georgia Theatre
December 8 Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse
December 9 Nashville, TN Marathon Music Works
December 10 Louisville, KY Headliner’s Music Hall
December 11 Memphis, TN New Daisy Theatre